Nanofiber collection device, nanofiber collection method, and nanofiber accumulation/molding apparatus and accumulation/molding method therefor

ABSTRACT

A device and method for collecting nanofibers are provided that allow mass production of nanofibers. A device (1) for collecting nanofibers includes: a collecting mechanism rotation axis (4) horizontally arranged to rotatably support parallel collecting bars (31) for collecting nanofibers (F) in a collecting position; a collecting mechanism drive motor (6) to rotatively drive the collecting mechanism rotation axis (4); a control mechanism (8) to stop, for each 90°, the collecting mechanism rotation axis (4) rotatively driven by the collecting mechanism drive motor (6); and peel off bars (12) to peel off the nanofibers (F) collected by the parallel collecting bars (31) below in a non-collecting position.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device and method for collectingnanofibers drawn in the form of fibers with a fine diameter. Inparticular, the present invention relates to a device and method forcollecting nanofibers that collect nanofibers drawn in the form offibers with a fine diameter while forming in a predetermined shape. Thepresent invention relates to a device and method for collectingnanofibers with greatly improved nanofiber production efficiency.

The present invention also relates to a device and method for depositingand forming nanofibers that deposit nanofibers while forming in apredetermined shape, the nanofibers produced by discharging a moltenresin or a dissolved resin to a gas flow and drawing in the form offibers with a fine diameter. In particular, the present inventionrelates to a device and method for depositing and forming nanofibersthat allow formation of a formation in a predetermined shape including asheet shape, a mat shape, and a block shape by depositing a dischargednanofiber flow flowing on a gas flow while deflecting the flow bydeflecting air from an air nozzle arranged in the vicinity.

BACKGROUND ART

Taking advantage of properties as fibers with a fine diameter,nanofibers are conventionally used in various fields. In recent years,nonwoven fabrics made of fibers with an ultrafine diameter and formed ina mat shape in a predetermined size are used as oil adsorbing materialsand filters. For example, PTL 1 describes a nanofiber productionapparatus for producing and collecting fibers with a fine diameter. Thenanofiber production apparatus has a nanofiber generating device, acollecting device, a suction device, and a guide material. The nanofibergenerating device is provided with an air nozzle to generate high speedhot air and a blowing nozzle to discharge a polymer solution to the highspeed hot air generated from the air nozzle or the vicinity of the highspeed hot air. The collecting device is provided on a downstream side ofthe nanofiber generating device and collects the nanofibers generated bythe nanofiber generating device. The suction device is provided on adownstream side of the collecting device and sucks gas. The guidematerial is formed in a tubular shape and provided on a downstream sideof the nanofiber generating device and an upstream side of thecollecting device to pass the high speed hot air inside.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: JP 2015/145880 A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

PTL 1 describes that “a filter substrate with nanofibers depositedthereon is heat treated, laminated, and integrated by athermocompression roller and wound on a winding roll as a nanofiberfilter material”. That is, PTL 1 describes that a nanofiber materialdeposited on a filter substrate of the collecting device is wound andcollected on a winding roll of the collecting device. PTL 1, however,does not specifically describe the technique to produce a nanofibermaterial formed in a mat shape. The collecting device in PTL 1 isspecialized in collecting nanofibers in a long thin sheet shape to bewound on a roll and is not suitable for forming and efficientlycollecting nanofibers in a relatively thick mat shape.

For collecting nanofibers in a sheet shape by discharging nanofibersfrom a single discharge nozzle on the collecting device side, thenanofibers are deposited in a circular shape centered around theextension of the discharge nozzle. For effective deposition ofnanofibers, a process of sucking with air from behind a sprayed surface(PTL 1) and the like are thus employed. Such a process, however, causesreduction in the suction force to the outer periphery of the sprayedsurface as well as the amount of deposited nanofiber. Since nanofiberstend to be deposited near the center, it is difficult to form aformation in a predetermined shape with a uniform thickness.

There is also a case of spraying nanofibers in a wide area as aroller-type sheet processing device. In this case, a method ofinstalling a plurality of nanofiber discharge nozzles in a wide area ora method of employing a process of moving a discharge nozzle including amelting section and a drive section is considered while causing problemsof increasing in size and price of the device. In addition, a generaldischarge nozzle has a mechanism of moving only in a uniaxial direction,whereas a mechanism of moving in a plurality of directions causes a verycomplex structure.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and itis thus an object thereof to provide a device and method for collectingnanofibers with greatly improved production efficiency by allowingefficient automatic collection of nanofibers in a mat shape of arelatively thick layer while forming in a predetermined shape.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a device andmethod for depositing and forming nanofibers allowing deposition ofnanofibers while collecting and forming in a predetermined shape, suchas a square shape.

Solution to Problem

A device for collecting nanofibers of the present invention is a devicefor collecting nanofiber produced by drawing a molten resin or adissolved resin discharged to a gas flow in a fiber form with a finediameter, the device including:

a collecting mechanism rotation axis arranged horizontally;

a nanofiber collecting mechanism provided at the collecting mechanismrotation axis;

a collecting mechanism drive motor configured to rotatively drive thecollecting mechanism rotation axis;

a control mechanism configured to control the collecting mechanism drivemotor to cause the nanofiber collecting mechanism to move between acollecting position to collect the nanofiber and a non-collectingposition out of the collecting position by intermittently rotating thecollecting mechanism rotation axis; and

a peel off mechanism configured to peel off the nanofiber collected bythe nanofiber collecting mechanism when the nanofiber collectingmechanism is in the non-collecting position.

In the present description, “the nanofiber collecting mechanism to movebetween a collecting position to collect the nanofiber and anon-collecting position out of the collecting position” includes notonly movement by rotation but also movement by sliding.

Further, in the device for collecting nanofiber of the presentinvention, the nanofiber collecting mechanism has at least onecollecting element provided at the collecting mechanism rotation axis.

Further, in the device for collecting nanofiber of the presentinvention, the nanofiber collecting mechanism has a plurality ofcollecting elements provided at the collecting mechanism rotation axisat regular angular intervals.

Further, in the device for collecting nanofiber of the presentinvention, the collecting element of the nanofiber collecting mechanismis configured with a collecting bar group having a plurality of barsaligned in parallel with each other along the collecting mechanismrotation axis. The collecting bar group, herein, having the plurality ofbars aligned in parallel with each other along the collecting mechanismrotation axis may be referred to as a nanofiber collecting element or acollecting element as an element of the nanofiber collecting mechanism.

Further, in the device for collecting nanofiber of the presentinvention, the plurality of bars configuring the collecting bar groupinclude bars located at both ends in an aligned direction to whichrespective shape retaining materials are fixed, the shape retainingmaterials retaining the collected nanofiber in a predetermined shape.

Further, in the device for collecting nanofiber of the presentinvention, the nanofiber collecting mechanism has a fall preventionportion prepared by bending a distal end of each bar of the collectingbar group in a direction of rotation.

Further, in the device for collecting nanofiber of the presentinvention,

the peel off mechanism is configured with a peel off bar group having aplurality of bars aligned in parallel with each other, and

the plurality of bars of the peel off bar group are moved, when thecollecting bar group configuring the collecting element of the nanofibercollecting mechanism is in the non-collecting position, to pass betweenthe respective bars of the collecting bar group.

Further, in the device for collecting nanofiber of the presentinvention,

a nanofiber collecting mechanism has a collecting element configuredwith a collecting bar group having a plurality of bars aligned inparallel with each other,

a peel off mechanism configured to peel off nanofiber collected by thecollecting bar group is configured with a peel off bar group having aplurality of bars aligned in parallel with each other,

a control mechanism is provided to control rotation of the nanofibercollecting mechanism and the peel off mechanism,

when the collecting bar group is in the nanofiber non-collectingposition, the plurality of bars of the peel off bar group are arrangedto pass between the respective bars of the collecting bar group duringrotation of the peel off mechanism, and

the control mechanism is configured to control the collecting element tomove to the non-collecting position by intermittently rotating thenanofiber collecting mechanism and then to control the bars of the peeloff bar group to pass between the respective bars of the collecting bargroup by rotating the a peel off mechanism.

A method for collecting nanofibers of the present invention thatcollects nanofibers while forming in a predetermined shape is a methodfor collecting nanofiber while forming in a predetermined shape using adevice for collecting nanofiber produced by drawing a molten resin or adissolved resin discharged to a gas flow in a fiber form with a finediameter, the method including:

collecting the nanofiber by a collecting element of a nanofibercollecting mechanism in a collecting position;

rotating the nanofiber collecting mechanism by a control mechanism tomove the collecting element in the collecting position to anon-collecting position; and

peeling off the collected nanofiber by causing a peel off mechanism tocontact, by the control mechanism, the nanofiber collected and formed inthe predetermined shape by the collecting element on the collectingelement moved to the non-collecting position.

In the method for collecting nanofiber of the present invention, thenanofiber collected by the collecting element is attached on a rearsurface side in a direction of rotation of the nanofiber collectingmechanism and is recovered in a recovery container provided below whenpeeled off by the peel off mechanism.

A method for collecting nanofibers of the present invention is a methodfor collecting nanofiber used in a device for collecting nanofiberproduced by drawing a molten resin or a dissolved resin discharged to agas flow in a fiber form with a fine diameter, the device having acollecting mechanism rotation axis arranged horizontally, a collectingelement of a nanofiber collecting mechanism provided on an outerperipheral surface of the collecting mechanism rotation axis, and a peeloff mechanism configured to peel off the nanofiber collected by thecollecting element below, wherein

the collecting element is moved between a collecting position on a gasflow and a non-collecting position out of the gas flow by intermittentlyrotating the collecting mechanism rotation axis, and

the nanofiber collected by the collecting element is peeled off below bythe peel off mechanism when the collecting element is in thenon-collecting position.

A method for collecting nanofiber of the present invention includes aprocedure of following (a) through (e):

(a) nanofiber is discharged from an outlet of a nanofiber dischargedevice, the device configured to produce nanofiber by discharging amolten or dissolved resin to a hot air flow and drawing in a fiber formwith a fine diameter, to a nanofiber collecting mechanism, thecollecting mechanism configured by aligning a plurality of bars inparallel and configured to be intermittently rotatively driven in apredetermined direction, on a rear surface side in a direction ofrotation of the nanofiber collecting mechanism;

(b) the discharged nanofiber is collected while formed in apredetermined shape on the rear surface side in the direction ofrotation of the nanofiber collecting mechanism;

(c) the nanofiber collecting mechanism with the nanofiber collected andformed in the predetermined shape attached to the rear surface side inthe direction of rotation is rotated;

(d) a peel off mechanism is rotated to the nanofiber collected andformed in the predetermined shape by the nanofiber collecting mechanismto peel off the nanofiber attached to the nanofiber collectingmechanism; and

(e) a nanofiber formation peeled off by the peel off mechanism isreceived in a recovery container.

Further, in the procedure (b), the nanofiber discharged from thenanofiber discharge device is collected while formed in thepredetermined shape by the nanofiber collecting mechanism while thenanofiber collecting mechanism is stopped.

A nanofiber deposition and formation device of the present invention isa nanofiber deposition and formation device for collecting anddepositing nanofiber by a nanofiber collecting mechanism, the nanofiberbeing discharged from a discharge nozzle of a nanofiber discharge deviceconfigured to produce nanofiber by discharging a molten resin or adissolved resin to a gas flow and drawing in a fiber form with a finediameter, the nanofiber deposition and formation device including

a discharge flow direction deflection mechanism configured to deflect adirection of a discharged nanofiber flow from the discharge nozzle tothe nanofiber collecting mechanism.

Further, in the nanofiber deposition and formation device of the presentinvention, the discharge flow direction deflection mechanism includes anair nozzle configured to deflect the direction of the dischargednanofiber flow by directing deflecting air from a direction of a side ofthe discharged nanofiber flow in a path from the discharge nozzle to thenanofiber collecting mechanism.

Further, the nanofiber deposition and formation device of the presentinvention includes an air nozzle blasting angle changing mechanismconfigured to adjust an air blasting angle from the air nozzle.

Further, the nanofiber deposition and formation device of the presentinvention includes an air blast amount changing mechanism configured toadjust an air blast amount of the air nozzle.

Further, in the nanofiber deposition and formation device of the presentinvention, the air nozzle is provided in plurality and the plurality ofair nozzles are concentrically disposed at regular angular intervals tothe discharge nozzle.

Further, the nanofiber deposition and formation device of the presentinvention includes an air blast control mechanism configured tocontinuously control air blasting operation of the air nozzles,concentrically disposed at regular angular intervals, clockwise orcounterclockwise in order.

A nanofiber deposition and formation method of the present invention isa nanofiber deposition and formation method, using a nanofiberdeposition and formation device for collecting and depositing nanofiberby a nanofiber collecting mechanism, the nanofiber being discharged froma discharge nozzle of a nanofiber discharge device configured to producenanofiber by discharging a molten resin or a dissolved resin to a gasflow and drawing in a fiber form with a fine diameter, wherein

a direction of a discharged nanofiber flow is deflected by a dischargeflow direction deflection mechanism configured to deflect the directionof the discharge flow from the discharge nozzle to the nanofibercollecting mechanism.

Further, in the nanofiber deposition and formation method of the presentinvention, the direction of the discharged nanofiber flow is deflectedby directing deflecting air from a direction of a side of the dischargednanofiber flow in a path from the discharge nozzle to the nanofibercollecting mechanism.

Further, in the nanofiber deposition and formation method of the presentinvention, air blasting operation of air nozzles, concentricallydisposed at regular angular intervals, is continuously controlledclockwise or counterclockwise in order.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The present invention allows mass production of nanofibers byconfiguring the nanofiber collecting device to continuously achievecollection and peel off of nanofibers. The present invention also allowsconstruction of a system to efficiently achieve a series of processesuntil packaging of nanofibers in a predetermined shape by collecting thedischarged and supplied nanofibers while forming in the predeterminedshape.

The nanofiber collecting mechanism of the nanofiber collecting device ofthe present invention is configured with the groups of collecting barsarranged in parallel, the groups being provided at a predetermined angleat regular intervals to the collecting mechanism rotation axis, to allowmass production of nanofibers by rotating and stopping the collectingmechanism by intermittently driving for each predetermined angle.

Specifically, the nanofiber collecting mechanism is provided with thegroups of the collecting bars for collecting nanofibers arranged inparallel, the groups being provided in four directions at a regularangle of 90° to the collecting mechanism rotation axis, to beintermittently rotated and stopped for each 90°. This allows the groupsof the collecting bars arranged in the four directions to beconsecutively located in the collecting position facing the dischargenozzle of the nanofiber discharge device and the collecting bar groupafter collection of the nanofibers to be moved to a position out of thecollecting position (non-collecting position). Accordingly, such acollecting mechanism allows marked improvement of nanofiber production.

Moreover, when the nanofibers collected from the collecting bar groupmoved to the non-collecting position are peeled off by the peel offmechanism, the nanofibers are attached on a lower surface side of thecollecting bar group arranged to be horizontal and thus the nanofibercollecting mechanism allows the nanofibers peeled off from thecollecting mechanism by the peel off mechanism to be automaticallydropped and accommodated in the recovery container provided below.Accordingly, even nanofibers in a mat shape of a relatively thick layerallow efficient and automatic collection and thus improvement inproduction efficiency.

The present invention allows the direction of the flow of the dischargednanofiber collected and deposited by the nanofiber collecting mechanismto be adjusted and deflected by the discharge flow direction deflectionmechanism, and it is thus possible to freely form the nanofibersdeposited and formed during collection in a desired predetermined shape,such as a square. Furthermore, regardless of the amount of deposition,it is possible to uniformly deposit the nanofibers on the sprayedsurface of the nanofiber collecting mechanism.

In addition, it is possible to freely control the position to depositthe nanofibers to be deposited on the nanofiber collecting mechanism byadjusting the air blast from the air nozzle to be turned on/off, the airblasting angle, and the air blast amount, thereby allowing preparationof a sheet of nanofibers in a shape with a high degree of freedomwithout limited by the type of collecting device.

Still in addition, the air blasting operation of the air nozzleconcentrically disposed at regular angular intervals to the dischargenozzle is performed by controlling the air blast (controlling turningon/off or the amount of air) from the respective air nozzles, forexample, continuously clockwise or counterclockwise in order orrandomly, thereby avoiding many air nozzles to be provided and allowingsimplification of the device structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view illustrating arrangement relationshipbetween a device for collecting nanofibers as a first embodiment of thepresent invention and a nanofiber discharge device to discharge andsupply nanofibers to the device for collecting nanofibers andillustrates a state of collecting nanofibers while forming in apredetermined shape by a nanofiber collecting mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view illustrating arrangement relationship ofthe device for collecting nanofibers as the first embodiment of thepresent invention and illustrates a state immediately before peeling offa nanofiber formation collected and formed in the predetermined shape bythe nanofiber collecting mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view illustrating arrangement relationship ofthe device for collecting nanofibers as the first embodiment of thepresent invention and illustrates a state of peeling off the nanofiberformation collected and formed in the predetermined shape by thenanofiber collecting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view illustrating a state of the device forcollecting nanofibers as the first embodiment of the present inventiontaken from above.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating details of the device forcollecting nanofibers as the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view illustrating a nanofiber deposition andformation device as a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a nanofiber collectingmechanism of the nanofiber deposition and formation device as the secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a discharge nozzle configuredin a nanofiber discharge device as the second embodiment of the presentinvention and a discharge flow direction deflection mechanism configuredto deflect a discharge flow from the discharge nozzle to the nanofibercollecting mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating arrangement relationship between thedischarge nozzle configured in the nanofiber discharge device as thesecond embodiment of the present invention and the discharge flowdirection deflection mechanism configured to deflect the discharge flowfrom the discharge nozzle to the nanofiber collecting mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a front view illustrating arrangement relationship betweenthe discharge nozzle configured in the nanofiber discharge device as thesecond embodiment of the present invention and the discharge flowdirection deflection mechanism configured to deflect the discharge flowfrom the discharge nozzle to the nanofiber collecting mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

With reference to FIGS. 1 through 5, a device and method for collectingnanofibers according to the first embodiment of the present inventionare described below.

A nanofiber collecting device 1 in the present embodiment collectsnanofibers while forming in a predetermined shape. To the nanofibercollecting device 1, nanofibers to be a jet (may be referred to as adischarge flow) carried on a gas flow from a nanofiber discharge device2 is supplied, the nanofiber discharge device 2 being configured toproduce nanofibers by discharging a molten resin or a dissolved resin toa gas flow to draw in the form of fibers with a fine diameter. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the nanofibers flow to be a jet from a dischargenozzle 2A as an outlet of the nanofiber discharge device 2 and collectedby a plurality of parallel collecting bars 31 of a collecting bar group3 as a collecting element configuring a nanofiber collecting mechanism30 of the nanofiber collecting device 1.

The nanofiber collecting device 1 is provided with a collectingmechanism rotation axis 4 and a peel off mechanism rotation axis 5provided in parallel at the same height in a frame 9 (details notshown), a collecting mechanism drive motor 6 to rotatively drive thecollecting mechanism rotation axis 4, a peel off mechanism drive motor 7to rotatively drive the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5, a controlmechanism 8 to stop the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 for eachrotation of 90° and rotate the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 360°immediately after stopping the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4. Itshould be noted that the degree does not have to be 90° and may be apredetermined angle as appropriate.

The collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 is arranged horizontally. Thecollecting mechanism rotation axis 4 is provided with a plurality ofcollecting bar groups 3. Each collecting bar group 3 has the parallelcollecting bars 31 of a plurality (11) of bars aligned in parallel witheach other in an axial direction (in FIG. 4, aligned in the verticaldirection) of the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4. The number ofthe parallel collecting bars 31 arranged in parallel is not limited to11. At a distal end of each parallel collecting bar 31 of the collectingbar groups 3, a fall prevention portion 10 is formed by bending rearwardin the direction of rotation. It should be noted that the collecting bargroups 3 are collecting elements attached to the collecting mechanismrotation axis 4 of the nanofiber collecting mechanism 30. The collectingbar groups 3 as the collecting elements are configured with the parallelcollecting bars 31 arranged in parallel.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the collecting bar groups 3 of the nanofibercollecting mechanism 30 in the present embodiment are provided in fourdirections at regular angular intervals (90° intervals) on an outerperipheral surface of the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4. As theembodiment shown, the nanofiber collecting mechanism 30 does not have tobe provided at four spots for each 90° at the collecting mechanismrotation axis 4 and the collecting element may be provided in at leastone spot. Regarding the positions of the collecting bar groups 3 in thepresent embodiment, a stopped position below the collecting mechanismrotation axis 4 is defined as the collecting position and a stoppedposition behind the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 (right side inFIGS. 1 through 3) is defined as the non-collecting position. Thecollecting bar group 3 in the collecting position is located on the gasflow, and the collecting bar group 3 in the non-collecting position islocated out of the gas flow. The gas flow in the present embodimentflows from the discharge nozzle 2A illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3 tothe right direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the 11 parallel collecting bars 31 configuringeach collecting bar group 3 include one parallel collecting bar 31 thatis located at each end (left and right ends in FIG. 5) in the aligneddirection and has a shape retaining material 11 fixed thereto, the shaperetaining material 11 being formed in a widened U shape overall toretain the shape of the collected nanofiber. The shape retainingmaterials 11 and the fall prevention portions 10 described earlierprevent nanofibers F collected by the collecting bar groups 3 fromfalling and sticking out of the collecting bar groups 3 due to thecentrifugal force by rotation and the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 isprovided with peel off bars 12, which are a plurality of bars, as a peeloff bar group configuring a peel off mechanism. The peel off bars 12 arebent in a U shape and have both end portions fixed to the peel offmechanism rotation axis 5. It should be noted that the peel off bars 12may be configured to allow passing between the parallel collecting bars31 of the collecting bar groups 3 and does not have to be limited to theU shape. Although six peel off bars 12 provided at the peel offmechanism rotation axis 5 illustrated in FIG. 4 are aligned in an axialdirection (vertical direction in FIG. 4) of the peel off mechanismrotation axis 5, the number may be an appropriate number.

When the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 is rotated 360° by thecontrol mechanism 8, the peel off bars 12 pass gaps between the parallelcollecting bars 31 aligned in parallel of the collecting bar group 3 inthe non-collecting position and peel off the nanofibers F collected anddeposited by the collecting bar group 3 (collecting element). It shouldbe noted that, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a recovery container 13 isplaced below the nanofibers F to be peeled off from the parallelcollecting bars 31 of the collecting bar group 3 in the non-collectingposition and the nanofibers F peeled off from the parallel collectingbars 31 of the collecting bar group 3 in the non-collecting position arethus automatically recovered in the recovery container 13 due to its ownweight.

In the present embodiment, when the collecting bar groups 3 (parallelcollecting bars 31) are arranged in front, rear, top, and bottomdirections of the outer peripheral surface of the collecting mechanismrotation axis 4, the control mechanism 8 stops the rotation drive of thecollecting mechanism rotation axis 4. The “front, rear, top, and bottom”in this context correspond to the “left, right, top, and bottom” inFIGS. 1 through 3. In this situation, the collecting bar group 3 in thebottom position (collecting position) is located vertical (state in FIG.1) to the jet of the nanofibers F discharged from the nanofiberdischarge device 2 (flow region schematically illustrated by dashdouble-dotted lines in FIGS. 1 through 3). The nanofibers F aredischarged and supplied from the discharge nozzle 2A of the nanofiberdischarge device 2 only to the parallel collecting bars 31 in the bottomposition of the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 (collecting bargroup 3 in the collecting position). Then, when the parallel collectingbars 31 are in the state of being rotated 90° from there and arrangedhorizontally (collecting bar group 3 arranged in parallel on the rightillustrated in FIG. 2 (collecting element in the non-collectingposition)), the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 is rotated 360°,followed by contact of the peel off bars 12 with the nanofibers Fcollected by the parallel collecting bars 31 to peel off, as illustratedin FIG. 3, the nanofibers F collected by the parallel collecting bars31. The peeled nanofibers F are then automatically recovered in therecovery container 13.

A series of operations for collecting the nanofibers F by the nanofibercollecting device 1 is described below. As illustrated in FIG. 1, whenthe nanofibers F are discharged and supplied from the discharge nozzle2A of the nanofiber discharge device 2 to the vertical parallelcollecting bars 31 of the collecting bar group 3 in the bottom position(collecting position) of the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 facingthe discharge nozzle 2A, the nanofibers F are attached on the parallelcollecting bars 31 of the collecting bar group 3 in the collectingposition to be collected. The nanofibers F are thus deposited in a matshape in a predetermined relatively thick shape.

Then, the control mechanism 8 rotates the collecting mechanism rotationaxis 4 90° (as illustrated in FIG. 2, rotates 90° counterclockwise) andthe collecting bar group 3 after collection of the nanofibers F in thecollecting position is arranged horizontally in the rear position(non-collecting position). That is, the control mechanism 8intermittently rotates the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 tocontrol the collecting mechanism drive motor 6 to move the collectingbar group 3 between the collecting position to collect the nanofibers Fand the non-collecting position out of the collecting position. In thisstate (non-collecting position), as illustrated in FIG. 2, the collectednanofibers F are arranged on a bottom side (lower surface side) of eachparallel collecting bar 31.

After the rotation stop of the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4, thecontrol mechanism 8 rotates the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 360°(as illustrated in FIG. 2, counterclockwise), followed by passing of thesix peel off bars 12 between the 11 parallel collecting bars 31,arranged in parallel and having the collected nanofibers F, of thecollecting bar group 3 in the non-collecting position (peel off bars 12illustrated by solid lines in FIG. 3). The nanofibers F in thepredetermined shape collected by the parallel collecting bars 31arranged in parallel are thus peeled off by the contact of the peel offbars 12, and the peeled nanofibers F are automatically accommodated inthe recovery container 13 due to its own weight. Such a series ofoperations is then performed automatically and repeatedly, therebyallowing mass production of the nanofibers F in a mat shape and thelike.

The method for collecting nanofibers of the present invention includesthe following procedure of (a) through (e):

(a) nanofibers are discharged from an outlet of a nanofiber dischargedevice, the device configured to produce nanofibers by discharging amolten resin or a dissolved resin to a hot air flow (hot gas flow) anddrawing in the form of fibers with a fine diameter, to a nanofibercollecting mechanism, the collecting mechanism configured by aligning aplurality of bars in parallel and configured to be intermittentlyrotatively driven in a predetermined direction, on a rear surface sidein a direction of rotation of the nanofiber collecting mechanism;

(b) the discharged nanofibers are collected while formed in apredetermined shape on the rear surface side in the direction ofrotation of the nanofiber collecting mechanism;

(c) the nanofiber collecting mechanism with the nanofibers collected andformed in the predetermined shape attached to the rear surface side inthe direction of rotation is rotated;

(d) a peel off mechanism is rotated to the nanofibers collected andformed in the predetermined shape by the nanofiber collecting mechanismto peel off the nanofibers attached to the nanofiber collectingmechanism; and

(e) a nanofiber formation peeled off by the peel off mechanism isreceived in a recovery container.

In the procedure (b), the nanofibers discharged from the nanofiberdischarge device is collected while formed in the predetermined shape bythe nanofiber collecting mechanism while the nanofiber collectingmechanism is stopped.

As described above, according to the nanofiber collecting device 1 inthe present embodiment, the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4configured to be rotatively driven and intermittently rotated andstopped for each 90° is provided with the collecting bar groups 3 infour directions at regular angular intervals of 90° (front, rear, top,and bottom of the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4), the collectingbar groups 3 having the parallel collecting bars 31 configured tocollect the nanofibers F and aligned in parallel. Such configurationallows the collecting bar groups 3 to be rotated and stopped for each90° and each of the parallel collecting bars 31 in the four directionsto be continually arranged in the position facing the discharge nozzle2A of the nanofiber discharge device 2 (collecting position). It is thuspossible to improve the efficiency of collecting the nanofibers F by thecollecting bar groups 3, leading to improvement in productionefficiency. It should be noted that the intermittent rotation and stopof the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 is not limited to thecontrol by rotating and stopping for each 90° and is to beintermittently controlled in accordance with the angle of arranging thecollecting bar groups 3 as appropriate.

Moreover, when the nanofibers F are peeled off from the parallelcollecting bars 31 aligned in parallel by the peel off bars 12, thecollecting mechanism rotation axis 4 is rotated in a predetermineddirection (in FIG. 2, counterclockwise) to cause the nanofibers F to beattached on the lower surface side of each parallel collecting bar 31 inthe non-collecting position. Such configuration allows the nanofibers Fpeeled off from the parallel collecting bars 31 arranged in parallel inthe non-collecting position by the peel off bars 12 to be automaticallydropped and accommodated in the recovery container 13 provided below. Itis thus possible to effectively automatically recover nanofibers even ina mat shape of a relatively thick layer and improve the productionefficiency.

Second Embodiment

With reference to FIGS. 6 through 10, a device and method for depositingand forming nanofibers according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention are described below.

FIG. 6 illustrates a nanofiber deposition and formation device 1including the nanofiber discharge device 2 and a nanofiber collectingdevice 15. Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates a state where a nanofibercollecting mechanism collects and deposits nanofibers as a dischargeflow carried on a gas flow from the discharge nozzle 2A of the nanofiberdischarge device 2.

The device and method for depositing and forming nanofibers of thepresent invention exhibit strong effects by being applied to thecollecting device in the first embodiment, and the present embodiment isdescribed using the discharge nozzle and the collecting device in thefirst embodiment. It should be noted that the discharge nozzle and thecollecting device are not limited to those described in the firstembodiment and application to a general technique is readily made bythose skilled in the art.

The nanofiber deposition and formation device 1 in the presentembodiment is roughly provided with the nanofiber discharge device 2 andthe nanofiber collecting device 15. The nanofiber discharge device 2discharges a molten resin or a dissolved resin to a gas flow and drawsthe resin in the form of fibers with a fine diameter to producenanofibers F. The nanofiber discharge device 2 discharges and suppliesthe nanofibers F as a jet (may be referred to as a discharge flow)carried on a gas flow from the discharge nozzle 2A to the nanofibercollecting device 15. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the nanofibers F flow tobe a jet from the discharge nozzle 2A as an outlet of the nanofiberdischarge device 2 and are collected by the plurality of parallelcollecting bars 31 of the collecting bar groups 3 as collecting elementsconfiguring the nanofiber collecting mechanism 30 of the nanofibercollecting device 15. The nanofiber collecting device 15 is thenanofiber collecting device 1 described above in the first embodiment.

The nanofiber deposition and formation device 1 is provided with thecollecting mechanism rotation axis 4 and the peel off mechanism rotationaxis 5 provided in parallel at the same height in the frame (housing) 9,details not shown, a collecting mechanism drive motor configured torotatively drive the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4, and a peeloff mechanism drive motor configured to rotatively drive the peel offmechanism rotation axis 5. The collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 isprovided with a control mechanism to stop the collecting mechanismrotation axis 4 for each rotation of 90° and to rotate the peel offmechanism rotation axis 5 360° immediately after stopping the collectingmechanism rotation axis 4. The discharged nanofibers are collected anddeposited by the collecting bar group 3 stopped at a bottom positionillustrated in FIG. 1. By rotation of the collecting bar groups 3 90° inan M direction and rotation of the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5360° in an N direction, the nanofibers F deposited and collected by thecollecting bar group 3 are peeled off by peel off bars 12 in a U shapeattached to the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5. It should be notedthat the collecting mechanism drive motor, the peel off mechanism drivemotor, and the control mechanism are omitted from the illustrationbecause they are not the spirit of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates details of the nanofiber collecting mechanism 30. Thecollecting mechanism rotation axis 4 is provided with the fourcollecting bar groups 3 arranged at 90° intervals. Each collecting bargroups 3 has the parallel collecting bars 31 of the plurality (11) ofbars aligned in the axial direction of the collecting mechanism rotationaxis 4. At the distal end of each parallel collecting bar 31 of thecollecting bar groups 3, the fall prevention portion 10 is formed bybending.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the 11 parallel collecting bars 31 configuringeach collecting bar group 3 include one parallel collecting bar 31 thatis located at each end (left and right ends in FIG. 7) in the aligneddirection and has a shape retaining material 11 fixed thereto in awidened U shape. The shape retaining materials 11 and the fallprevention portions 10 described earlier prevent the nanofibers Fcollected by the collecting bar groups 3 from falling and sticking outof the collecting bar groups 3 due to the centrifugal force by rotationand the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 isprovided with the peel off bars 12, which are a plurality of bars, asthe peel off bar group configuring the peel off mechanism. The peel offbars 12 are bent in a U shape and have both end portions fixed to thepeel off mechanism rotation axis 5. Six peel off bars 12 provided at thepeel off mechanism rotation axis 5 are aligned in the axial direction ofthe peel off mechanism rotation axis 5.

When the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 is rotated 360° by thecontrol mechanism 8, the peel off bars 12 pass gaps between the parallelcollecting bars 31 and peel off the nanofibers F collected and depositedby the parallel collecting bars 31. It should be noted that the recoverycontainer 13 is placed below the nanofibers F to be peeled off from theparallel collecting bars 31 and the nanofibers F peeled off from theparallel collecting bars 31 are thus automatically recovered in therecovery container 13 due to its own weight.

In the present embodiment, when the collecting bar groups 3 are arrangedin the front, rear, top, and bottom of the outer periphery of thecollecting mechanism rotation axis 4, the control mechanism stops therotation drive of the collecting mechanism rotation axis 4 (state inFIG. 6). The “front, rear, top, and bottom” in this context correspondto the “left, right, top, and bottom” in FIG. 6. The nanofibers F aredischarged and supplied from the discharge nozzle 2A of the nanofiberdischarge device 2 only to the parallel collecting bars 31 of thecollecting bar group 3 in the bottom position of the collectingmechanism rotation axis 4 (collecting position). Then, when the parallelcollecting bars 31 are in the state of being rotated 90° from there andarranged horizontally, the peel off mechanism rotation axis 5 is rotated360°, followed by contact of the peel off bars 12 with the nanofibers Fcollected by the parallel collecting bars 31 to peel off the nanofibersF collected by the parallel collecting bars 31. The peeled nanofibers Fare then automatically recovered in the recovery container 13.

The discharge flow direction deflection mechanism as an embodiment ofthe present invention is then described. With reference to FIGS. 8through 10, a discharge flow direction deflection mechanism 16 isdescribed below that is configured to deflect a flow of the dischargednanofibers F (discharge flow) from the discharge nozzle 2A of thenanofiber discharge device 2 to the nanofiber collecting mechanism 30carried on a gas flow. It should be noted that, although the dischargeflow direction deflection mechanism 16 in the present embodiment belongsto the nanofiber discharge device 2, it may belong to the nanofibercollecting device 15 side.

The discharge flow direction deflection mechanism 16 deflects a flow ofthe discharged nanofibers F by directing deflecting air from a directionof a side of the flow of the discharged nanofibers F from the dischargenozzle 2A to form a discharge flow to a desired direction, in otherwords, to shift the flow of the discharged nanofibers F. The dischargeflow direction deflection mechanism 16 is provided with a plurality ofair nozzles 17 to direct the deflecting air from the side to the flow ofthe discharged nanofibers F from the discharge nozzle 2A. The pluralityof air nozzles 17 are arranged circumferentially. The deflecting airblasted from the air nozzles 17 is blown at respective angles (airblasting angles to the discharge flow) adjustable by deflection angleadjustment plates 18. The deflection angle adjustment plates 18 areradially (direction to move closer to or farther from the flow of thedischarged nanofibers F) slidably mounted on a retention frame 19 in ahollow disk shape. To the air nozzles 17, pipes are connected to supplyhigh pressure air to be the deflecting air while the pipes are now shownfor simplification of the drawing. The pipes may guide the deflectingair to the air nozzles 17. In addition to the pipes, the air nozzles 17are provided with a pump, a solenoid valve for operation of turningon/off air supply, and the like while they may be configured asappropriate and details are not described herein. This embodiment of thepresent invention is provided with an air blast control mechanism 21configured to control various types of air blasting operation includingair blast timing by each air nozzle 17 and an air blast amount changingmechanism 20 configured to electrically adjust an air blast amount byeach air nozzle 17.

The retention frame 19 in a hollow disk shape on which the plurality ofair nozzles 17 are circumferentially mounted is concentrically arrangedto surround the discharge nozzle 2A on a downstream side of thedischarge nozzle 2A and is configured integrally with the nanofiberdischarge device 2 via a coupling frame, not shown. As illustrated inFIGS. 8 through 10, eight of the air nozzles 17 are disposed at regularangular intervals (45° intervals) concentrically centered around thearrangement of the discharge nozzle 2A. Of course, the plurality of airnozzles 17 are not limited to the arrangement of eight nozzles at 45°intervals.

On the retention frame 19, each air nozzle 17 is mounted via thedeflection angle adjustment plate 18. The deflection angle adjustmentplates 18 are slidably mounted on the retention frame 19 in a hollowdisk shape to allow oscillation in a direction to move closer to orfarther from the flow of the discharged nanofibers F. The deflectionangle adjustment plates 18 are air nozzle blasting angle changingmechanisms configured to adjust the air blasting angles from the airnozzles 17.

A nanofiber deposition and formation method of the present inventionuses a nanofiber deposition and formation device for collecting anddepositing nanofibers by a nanofiber collecting mechanism, thenanofibers being discharged from a discharge nozzle of a nanofiberdischarge device configured to produce nanofibers by discharging amolten resin or a dissolved resin to a gas flow and drawing in a fiberform with a fine diameter, wherein

a discharged nanofiber flow from the discharge nozzle to the nanofibercollecting mechanism is deflected by the discharge flow directiondeflection mechanism 16 to change a position to deposit the nanofibersand obtain a nanofiber deposition in a desired predetermined shape.

The discharge flow direction deflection mechanism 16 directs deflectingair from a direction of a side of the discharged nanofiber flow in apath from the discharge nozzle to the nanofiber collecting mechanism todeflect the direction of the discharged nanofiber flow.

The discharge flow direction deflection mechanism 16 controls airblasting operation of the air nozzles concentrically disposed at regularangular intervals to blast the air, for example, continuously controlledclockwise or counterclockwise in order or randomly. The air blastcontrol in this case may be control of turning on/off the air blast byeach air nozzle or control of an air blast amount. This allows thedeflecting air to be generated as if the deflecting air moves around thedischarged nanofiber flow and the direction of the discharge flow to berandomly changed. It is thus possible to form a nanofiber formation in apredetermined shape.

According to the nanofiber deposition and formation device 1 describedin the present embodiment, the direction of the flow of dischargednanofibers collected and deposited by the nanofiber collecting mechanismis appropriately adjusted by the discharge flow direction deflectionmechanism 16 in accordance with a shape to be formed. Such configurationallows the nanofibers F collected and deposited by the nanofibercollecting mechanism to be freely deposited and formed in apredetermined shape, such as a square shape. It is thus possible to forma formation in a predetermined shape including a sheet shape, a matshape, and a block shape. It is also possible to uniformly deposit thenanofibers F on the sprayed surface of the parallel collecting bars 31of the collecting bar groups 3 regardless of the amount of deposition.

In addition, the position to deposit the nanofibers F to be deposited bythe collecting mechanism is allowed to be freely controlled by adjustingthe air blasting angle and the air blast amount of each air nozzle 17,and it is thus possible to prepare a sheet of the nanofibers F in ashape with a high degree of freedom without limited by the type ofcollecting mechanism.

Still in addition, the air blast control mechanism 21 is capable ofcontrolling the operation of turning on/off the air blast from airnozzles 17 concentrically disposed at regular angular intervals so asto, for example, continuously rotate clockwise or counterclockwise inorder or randomly, thereby avoiding many air nozzles to be provided andachieving simplification of the device structure.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, the present invention is not limited to these examples. Theembodiments described earlier subjected to addition, deletion, and/ordesign change of components appropriately by those skilled in the artand those having the characteristics of the embodiments appropriatelycombined are included in the scope of the present invention as long asincluding the spirit of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST First Embodiment, FIGS. 1 through 5

1 Device for Collecting Nanofibers

2 Nanofiber Discharge Device

2A Discharge Nozzle (Outlet)

3 Collecting Bar Group (Nanofiber Collecting Element)

30 Nanofiber Collecting Mechanism

31 Parallel Collecting Bar

4 Collecting Mechanism Rotation Axis

5 Peel Off Mechanism Rotation Axis

6 Collecting Mechanism Drive Motor

7 Peel Off Mechanism Drive Motor

8 Control Mechanism

9 Frame

10 Fall Prevention Portion

11 Shape Retaining Material

12 Peel Off Bar

13 Recovery Container

F Nanofiber

Second Embodiment, FIGS. 6 through 10

1 Nanofiber Deposition and Formation Device

2 Nanofiber Discharge Device

2A Discharge Nozzle (Outlet)

30 Nanofiber Collecting Mechanism

3 Collecting Bar Group

31 Parallel Collecting Bar

4 Collecting Mechanism Rotation Axis

5 Peel Off Mechanism Rotation Axis

9 Frame (Housing)

10 Fall Prevention Portion

11 Shape Retaining Material

12 Peel Off Bar

13 Recovery Container

15 Nanofiber Collecting Device

16 Discharge Flow Direction Deflection Mechanism

17 Air Nozzle

18 Deflection Angle Adjustment Plate (Air Nozzle Blasting Angle ChangingMechanism)

19 Retention Frame

20 Air Blast Amount Changing Mechanism

21 Air Blast Control Mechanism (Control Mechanism)

F Nanofiber

1. A device for collecting nanofiber produced by drawing a molten resinor a dissolved resin discharged to a gas flow in a fiber form with afine diameter, the device comprising: a collecting mechanism rotationaxis arranged horizontally; a nanofiber collecting mechanism provided atthe collecting mechanism rotation axis; a collecting mechanism drivemotor configured to rotatively drive the collecting mechanism rotationaxis; a control mechanism configured to control the collecting mechanismdrive motor to cause the nanofiber collecting mechanism to move betweena collecting position to collect the nanofiber and a non-collectingposition out of the collecting position by intermittently rotating thecollecting mechanism rotation axis; and a peel off mechanism configuredto peel off the nanofiber collected by the nanofiber collectingmechanism when the nanofiber collecting mechanism is in thenon-collecting position.
 2. The device for collecting nanofiberaccording to claim 1, wherein the nanofiber collecting mechanism has atleast one collecting element provided at the collecting mechanismrotation axis.
 3. The device for collecting nanofiber according to claim1, wherein the nanofiber collecting mechanism has a plurality ofcollecting elements provided at the collecting mechanism rotation axisat regular angular intervals.
 4. The device for collecting nanofiberaccording to claim 2, wherein the collecting element of the nanofibercollecting mechanism is configured with a collecting bar group having aplurality of bars aligned in parallel with each other along thecollecting mechanism rotation axis.
 5. The device for collectingnanofiber according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of barsconfiguring the collecting bar group include bars located at both endsin an aligned direction to which respective shape retaining materialsare fixed, the shape retaining materials retaining the collectednanofiber in a predetermined shape.
 6. The device for collectingnanofiber according to claim 5, wherein the nanofiber collectingmechanism has a fall prevention portion prepared by bending a distal endof each bar of the collecting bar group in a direction of rotation. 7.The device for collecting nanofiber according to claim 4, wherein thepeel off mechanism is configured with a peel off bar group having aplurality of bars aligned in parallel with each other, and the pluralityof bars of the peel off bar group are moved, when the collecting bargroup configuring the collecting element of the nanofiber collectingmechanism is in the non-collecting position, to pass between therespective bars of the collecting bar group.
 8. A device for collectingnanofiber, wherein a nanofiber collecting mechanism has a collectingelement configured with a collecting bar group having a plurality ofbars aligned in parallel with each other, a peel off mechanismconfigured to peel off nanofiber collected by the collecting bar groupis configured with a peel off bar group having a plurality of barsaligned in parallel with each other, a control mechanism is provided tocontrol rotation of the nanofiber collecting mechanism and the peel offmechanism, when the collecting bar group is in the nanofibernon-collecting position, the plurality of bars of the peel off bar groupare arranged to pass between the respective bars of the collecting bargroup during rotation of the peel off mechanism, and the controlmechanism is configured to control the collecting element to move to thenon-collecting position by intermittently rotating the nanofibercollecting mechanism and then to control the bars of the peel off bargroup to pass between the respective bars of the collecting bar group byrotating the a peel off mechanism.
 9. A method for collecting nanofiberwhile forming in a predetermined shape using a device for collectingnanofiber produced by drawing a molten resin or a dissolved resindischarged to a gas flow in a fiber form with a fine diameter, themethod comprising: collecting the nanofiber by a collecting element of ananofiber collecting mechanism in a collecting position; rotating thenanofiber collecting mechanism by a control mechanism to move thecollecting element in the collecting position to a non-collectingposition; and peeling off the collected nanofiber by causing a peel offmechanism to contact, by the control mechanism, the nanofiber collectedand formed in the predetermined shape by the collecting element on thecollecting element moved to the non-collecting position.
 10. The methodfor collecting nanofiber according to claim 9, wherein the nanofibercollected by the collecting element is attached on a rear surface sidein a direction of rotation of the nanofiber collecting mechanism and isrecovered in a recovery container provided below when peeled off by thepeel off mechanism.
 11. A method for collecting nanofiber used in adevice for collecting nanofiber produced by drawing a molten resin or adissolved resin discharged to a gas flow in a fiber form with a finediameter, the device having a collecting mechanism rotation axisarranged horizontally, a collecting element of a nanofiber collectingmechanism provided on an outer peripheral surface of the collectingmechanism rotation axis, and a peel off mechanism configured to peel offthe nanofiber collected by the collecting element below, wherein thecollecting element is moved between a collecting position on a gas flowand a non-collecting position out of the gas flow by intermittentlyrotating the collecting mechanism rotation axis, and the nanofibercollected by the collecting element is peeled off below by the peel offmechanism when the collecting element is in the non-collecting position.12. A method for collecting nanofiber, comprising a procedure offollowing (a) through (e): (a) nanofiber is discharged from an outlet ofa nanofiber discharge device, the device configured to produce nanofiberby discharging a molten or dissolved resin to a hot air flow and drawingin a fiber form with a fine diameter, to a nanofiber collectingmechanism, the collecting mechanism configured by aligning a pluralityof bars in parallel and configured to be intermittently rotativelydriven in a predetermined direction, on a rear surface side in adirection of rotation of the nanofiber collecting mechanism; (b) thedischarged nanofiber is collected while formed in a predetermined shapeon the rear surface side in the direction of rotation of the nanofibercollecting mechanism; (c) the nanofiber collecting mechanism with thenanofiber collected and formed in the predetermined shape attached tothe rear surface side in the direction of rotation is rotated; (d) apeel off mechanism is rotated to the nanofiber collected and formed inthe predetermined shape by the nanofiber collecting mechanism to peeloff the nanofiber attached to the nanofiber collecting mechanism; and(e) a nanofiber formation peeled off by the peel off mechanism isreceived in a recovery container.
 13. The method for collectingnanofiber according to claim 12, wherein, in the procedure (b), thenanofiber discharged from the nanofiber discharge device is collectedwhile formed in the predetermined shape by the nanofiber collectingmechanism while the nanofiber collecting mechanism is stopped.
 14. Ananofiber deposition and formation device for collecting and depositingnanofiber by a nanofiber collecting mechanism, the nanofiber beingdischarged from a discharge nozzle of a nanofiber discharge deviceconfigured to produce nanofiber by discharging a molten resin or adissolved resin to a gas flow and drawing in a fiber form with a finediameter, the nanofiber deposition and formation device comprising adischarge flow direction deflection mechanism configured to deflect adirection of a discharged nanofiber flow from the discharge nozzle tothe nanofiber collecting mechanism.
 15. The nanofiber deposition andformation device according to claim 15, wherein the discharge flowdirection deflection mechanism includes an air nozzle configured todeflect the direction of the discharged nanofiber flow by directingdeflecting air from a direction of a side of the discharged nanofiberflow in a path from the discharge nozzle to the nanofiber collectingmechanism.
 16. The nanofiber deposition and formation device accordingto claim 15, further comprising an air nozzle blasting angle changingmechanism configured to adjust an air blasting angle from the airnozzle.
 17. The nanofiber deposition and formation device according toclaim 15, further comprising an air blast amount changing mechanismconfigured to adjust an air blast amount of the air nozzle.
 18. Thenanofiber deposition and formation device according to claim 15, whereinthe air nozzle is provided in plurality and the plurality of air nozzlesare concentrically disposed at regular angular intervals to thedischarge nozzle.
 19. The nanofiber deposition and formation deviceaccording to claim 18, further comprising an air blast control mechanismconfigured to continuously control air blasting operation of the airnozzles, concentrically disposed at regular angular intervals, clockwiseor counterclockwise in order.
 20. A nanofiber deposition and formationmethod, using a nanofiber deposition and formation device for collectingand depositing nanofiber by a nanofiber collecting mechanism, thenanofiber being discharged from a discharge nozzle of a nanofiberdischarge device configured to produce nanofiber by discharging a moltenresin or a dissolved resin to a gas flow and drawing in a fiber formwith a fine diameter, wherein a direction of a discharged nanofiber flowis deflected by a discharge flow direction deflection mechanismconfigured to deflect the direction of the discharge flow from thedischarge nozzle to the nanofiber collecting mechanism.
 21. Thenanofiber deposition and formation method according to claim 20, whereinthe direction of the discharged nanofiber flow is deflected by directingdeflecting air from a direction of a side of the discharged nanofiberflow in a path from the discharge nozzle to the nanofiber collectingmechanism.
 22. The nanofiber deposition and formation method accordingto claim 21, wherein air blasting operation of air nozzles,concentrically disposed at regular angular intervals, is continuouslycontrolled clockwise or counterclockwise in order.